


you are elegance and freedom

by em_the_gem



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Dancing, F/M, accords ball 20 years ago, happy maryse lightwood, there's no way these two weren't childhood best friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-04-28 14:05:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14450853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/em_the_gem/pseuds/em_the_gem
Summary: Luke hadn't seen Maryse let her hair down since the Accords Ball in Idris 20 years ago





	you are elegance and freedom

**Author's Note:**

> title from magic!'s 'let your hair down'
> 
> disclaimer: i know the timeline is off by 90% so please don't yell at me, but enjoy these two finding a second chance at love in each other

The night progressed more slow than she’d expected it to. Her mind kept drifting to her small children and to the recently hired house maid who took care of them for the night. Did she know Alexander preferred the books on farm animals for bedtime stories? Did she know what stuffed toy was Isabelle’s favorite? The thoughts rummaged her brain and kept her mind occupied and unfocused from the conversation she was currently supposed to take part in. It was only when her hands started clutching her purse so tight the buttons on it cut creases into her palm that she excused herself from the conversation.

Outside on the balcony connected to the Accords Hall she could finally breathe. The warm summer night was still bright with pink, purple and blue pastels, but a few stars twinkled above her as she tilted her head back to loosen the tension in her neck. Her hairdo had proven to be a pain, and the woman who’d done her hair hadn’t spared on hairpins. Hairpins that currently caused her her scalp to itch and throb with the effort of keeping her dark hair tightly done up.

Suddenly, the frustration of being stuck at this party, and not at home with her children, hit her and she kicked off her heels and started tearing at the pins in her hair. One by one they came out and her hair fell down over her shoulders and down her back slightly wavy and messy. She felt childish and ridiculous, but as a new mother she found it reasonable that she wanted to spend time with her children instead of Clave delegates and council members. 

“Maryse?” She looked up and was met with none other than Lucian Graymark. Relieved that it was her friend and not her husband who’d found her like this, she went to sit on one of the marble benches. “Is everything alright?”

He came to sit next to her on the bench and she could only guess what he thought of her sitting like this with her shoulders hunched, hair down and her cobalt blue gown in wrinkles where her hands were clutching at it.

“I just want this night to be over,” she sighed and looked at him with furrowed brows. “How much longer do we need to keep up the charade?”

She was talking about the uprising and he knew, his face immediately folding into shadowhunter curves. He shrugged and blinked at her, not expecting the conversation to be about this. It was rare they spoke about it around other shadowhunters, especially ones who weren’t a part of the Circle.

“I don’t know. Not for long I hope. Valentine is getting impatient,” he said and his expression turned back to his friendly yet concerned look. “Is that’s what bothering you?”

“Nothing’s bothering me, I’m fine,” she lied.

“Maryse, I’ve known you my entire life. I know when you’re not telling the truth.”

It was true. They’d grown up in the same social circles, their parents often meeting with each other as well as the Morgensterns and the Fairchilds. The Truebloods and the Graymarks were neighbors in Alicante, and Lucian and Maryse had trained together at the Academy. They’d been inseparable growing up, and at one point Maryse had thought that maybe, just maybe, he could be her one, fierce love. But then she’d married Robert, and that had given her Alexander and Isabelle.

Feeling his insistent eyes on her, the facade she kept up crumbled and she hid her face in her hands. “I’m thinking about the children. Alexander and Isabelle. About what I’m putting them through. Are we doing the right thing Lucian? Is the future we’re fighting for truly what the Angel wants?”

“A future without demons and danger? That sounds like the perfect future for your kids.” He paused. ”You’re a great mother, Maryse. It might take some time to figure out, but you’ll get there. I know it.” He put a warm hand over hers to stop her from wrinkling her dress even further. Her breath catched as he squeezed her hands and pulled her up on her feet.

“Maryse, you need to relax. Forget about business and about your children just for one-”

“I can’t, they’re all I think about,” she interrupted as he dragged her away from the bench and away from her thoughts. His warm hands burning her skin and through the fabric of her dress as he positioned them for a classic waltz.

“Just for one night, Maryse. Do you hear the music? It’s a party!” his chuckle spread to her and she relaxed her shoulders and let her worries for the future dissolve. The music from the Hall streamed out through the open doors and without warning, Lucian took a step forward and lead her in their waltz.

For a little while they talked about their past and laughed at memories from their childhood and early youth, and for a while Maryse felt younger and less burdened by her actions in the past years. The sky above them grew darker by the minute until it was a deep blue with a constellation of stars. The music had stopped but they kept swaying, Maryse’s chin propped on Lucian’s shoulder as they’d moved closer while dancing.

A sudden feeling of melancholy hit her as she felt as though this would be the last time she would feel this young and free. Like something dark loomed just around the corner. She wanted to keep this moment for as long as she could, but then Lucian’s hands traveled tentatively from her waist up to her arms and gently pulled her away.

“Maryse,” he said and brought his hand up to touch the tips of her hair. “You look lovely.”

Tears welled in her eyes and she swallowed hard to keep the lump in her throat from settling completely. At a loss for words she shook her head and took a step back. She was entering deep waters, waters she wanted to keep bottled up because unleashing them would mean questioning everything she’d come to terms with. She was married to Robert and with the Circle they would cleanse the world of demonic monsters and then she would raise her kids to be a better version of herself in a future that was better than their present.

“I should get back inside,” she finally said and the defeat was clear in Lucian’s eyes. “Thank you. For the talk, and for the dance.”

20 years later the waters had broken through the dam inside her and she found herself lost in the sea of her own mistakes, but sitting at the Hunter’s Moon surrounded by her children and looking at Lucian she could feel a current pulling her safely ashore. 

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on tumblr as [alecsgideon](https://alecsgideon.tumblt.com/)


End file.
